Keynote Breakdown: Fixing a data-heavy opener | Amanda Natividad

Aug 18, 2026

Amanda Natividad, marketing leader and founder of Zero Click Marketing, riffs on tightening a data-heavy keynote opener. Short, practical fixes for framing urgency, trimming research, and turning a key graph into a memorable metaphor. Conversations on stage presence, vocal craft, and making complex data performative.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ADVICE

Stand Out By Pitching A Specific Fresh Keynote

Make speaker submissions specific and bold: show your unique POV, data, and what you'll do differently for the event theme.
Amanda recommends studying past agendas and pitching a fresh idea that excites you to present.

ANECDOTE

Turning An Emcee Gag Into Instant Rapport

Amanda owned an awkward live moment when the emcee introduced her as "the best marketer in the world" and turned it into rapport.
She told the speaker-dinner backstory onstage to win chuckles and humanize the opening.

ADVICE

Cut Throat Clearing From Your Opener

Avoid throat-clearing like repeated agenda statements; it signals doubt and wastes audience attention.
Amanda used phrases like "I will start by" multiple times as a setup that made the room hold their breath.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Amanda Natividad joins the show to rework the opener of her keynote with Jay. It's extremely data-heavy and leads to a lot of "throat-clearing" by Amanda, which she notices rewatching it.

Making things harder, she was introduced onto the stage in a strange way, presenting her with a tricky decision: acknowledge it or push ahead?

Amanda is the author of the book, Zero Click Marketing: How to Build Brands and Earn Customers on a Traffic-Starved Web, which she coauthored with Rand Fishkin.

WATCH THE KEYNOTE PUNCH-UP:
https://youtu.be/cBRIKNYnFx4?is=X9SqqELKNjAOZwio

Learn more about Amanda at https://zeroclickmarketing.co/ and follow her at https://linkedin.com/in/amandanat

Watch the full keynote from MicroConf: https://linkedin.com/in/amandanat

KEEP LEARNING:

🧰 Resources for professional speakers: https://jayacunzo.com/speaking-resources

🎤 Book Jay to speak: https://jayacunzo.com/keynotes

📬 Jay's Newsletter: https://jayacunzo.com/newsletter

📈 Work with Jay to develop your keynote and grow your speaking business: https://jayacunzo.com/services

ABOUT THE SHOW:

On WHY THEY RESONATE, speakers, authors, experts, and entrepreneurs develop their ideas in real-time, so you can see what it really takes to resonate. Join professional speaker and public speaking advisor Jay Acunzo as you get closer to the process of how exceptional communicators actually craft their materials. You'll hear how new ideas take shape, speeches become great, and stories evolve from meh to memorable. The show is part celebration, part workshop, and you'll walk away ready to compete on the influence of your ideas, not the volume of your marketing.

Music for Why They Resonate is by Embleton: https://linktr.ee/embleton

This episode is sponsored by Wistia, the platform for all your webinars, podcasting, and video marketing needs: https://wistia.com

ABOUT JAY:

Jay Acunzo is a public speaking and storytelling advisor trusted by bestselling authors, TED speakers, seven-figure coaches, and brands like Disney, Mailchimp, and Salesforce. Before starting his advisory firm, Jay was a digital media strategist at Google and head of content for 3 organizations, including HubSpot. He’s directed documentaries, hosted podcasts, and created award-winning content for innovative startups and Fortune 500 brands. Today, Jay teaches business leaders how to communicate with greater clarity, influence, and resonance.

Keynote Speaking & Business Inquiries: https://jayacunzo.com/